New Common Core Assessment Solutions

The new PARCC and Smarter Balanced item types measure a deeper, more critical understanding of the standards. Students must demonstrate what they have learned in the classroom through technology-based exams by conceptualizing, applying, and executing on the content in ways that traditional pen and paper exams cannot. For example, hot spot questions ensure interaction with questions through media-rich graphics and illustrations, and constructed response questions require critical thinking and evidence based support.

In response to the Common Core State Standards we have undertaken major development efforts to not only ensure that existing instructional and assessment resources align to the standards, but to create new solutions for students and educators that are written specifically to produce Common Core outcomes.

Edmentum’s web-based solutions will help schools and districts prepare for more rigorous and interactive web-based exams. Study Island and Edmentum Test Packs will soon include brand new PARCC and Smarter- Balanced Assessment-aligned item types designed to promote higher order thinking and inquiry. Based on the design employed by these new assessments, our new questions will be created using the Depth of Knowledge (DOK) guidelines, ensuring that each of the questions is written to the appropriate DOK levels and students are exposed to the appropriate content.

Check out our new Common Core item types here:

Multiple Choice: Students choose the single best answer.

Constructed Response: Students construct a response using evidence from the question or reading to support their view.

Multiple Response: Students can select more than one correct answer in a multiple choice format.

Cloze: Student selects a response from a drop down box in an equation or sentence.

Sequence: Students view multiple images concerning a question or problem posed. Students click on an image and move it to correct location on the screen, in sequence, to create the correct overall answer.

Matched Pairs: This item has three columns, two containing information to answer the question. The student moves answers from the third column to the second column (open boxes) to match information in the first column.

Hot Spot: Using the cursor, the student identifies a location in an image that represents the correct answer.

Hot Text: Text choices are identified for the student within an item and the student selects the correct text answer or answers with the cursor.

Graphical Gap Match: Using the cursor students drag images to another image to answer the question.

Fill in the Blank: The student enters an alphanumeric response in open box in an item. An item may have more than one open box.